Call for a Clean Dream Act

While we remain under threat from the tax bill, the FCC’s net neutrality proposal, incursions on our public lands, and so much more, this week Congress’ attention shifts to the government spending bill. The government will shut down this Friday, December 8 unless a “continuing resolution” is passed. Such a resolution allows Congress to extend the current government funding levels to keep the government open temporarily.

Democrats have real leverage in this fight. Republicans need 60 votes in the Senate and spending bills in the House have required Democratic votes to pass in recent years. Democratic leadership has said it would use this leverage to support Dreamers. Furthermore, Jeff Flake said he got a concession from McConnell to bring a Dreamer bill to the floor in exchange for his vote for the tax bill.

In September, Trump announced his termination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an Obama-era executive action allowing Dreamers to obtain work permits and live without fear of deportation after passing a background check and paying an application fee. Every day that goes by is a day in which the lives of immigrant youth are at risk. And with the clock running out on 800,00 Dreamers’ protections under DACA, a vote for the continuing resolution without protections for immigrant youth is a vote to deport Dreamers.

Today, undocumented youth are leading a campaign to take over Members of Congress’s offices across the country to demand they stand for Dreamers.